And I'm not talking about its trip to Binghamton through a bad snowstorm on Friday afternoon. That's nothing. These are cold-weather hockey players, after all, and they don't even have to drive.

I'm speaking, of course, about the Syracuse Crunch's seven-game losing streak and continued loss of personnel.

Syracuse Crunch coach Ross Yates stressed that the team's best players, the ones actually still here, have to step up and start playing like it.

I asked Yates who that's left could be considered a "best player.''

"Figure it out,'' he said. "There's a few players there who have to take charge.''

Yates also tried to look at the bright side of things.

"All the young prospects will get a chance to play now. Lot of ice time. Power play. Penalty killing,'' he said. "That's the positive we take out of this.''

I asked veteran forward Steve Kelly for his perspective on the mood of the team.

"Everyone is so fragile, they (opponents) score a goal, (Syracuse thinks) oh, there it is again. You put it out of your head and play,'' he said. "No one is happy about it (the losing streak). That's an understatement. The more you get down, upset, uptight, that doesn't help you either. We'll be a better team when we come out of it.''

- Syracuse forward Tom Sestito was ill and did not skate on Friday morning. His status for tonight is uncertain.

- Defenseman Clay Wilson, who was sent down by Columbus on Friday, will not make it in time for tonight's game. Saturday's home contest vs. Lake Erie could be doable, though.

- One player very excited to be riding the Crunch bus today is enforcer Mike Sgroi. He just got back from a broken hand fighting for Syracuse in the preseason and was recalled from Johnstown on Friday and signed to a tryout contract. You have to give Sgroi credit - he may be one of the most enthusiastic and always-ready-to-go players I've ever talked to.

"At this stage of my career, the things I'm capable of doing are secondary to this team winning games,'' he said. "My only concern is my team gets winning while I'm here. I love being here.''

- Dan LaCosta is going in goal for the Crunch tonight. I asked him how his previously sore back held up in the 5-1 loss to Grand Rapids on Wednesday.

"It was a good test,'' he said. "There was a scramble, the net fell on my back. If it didn't hurt then, I don't think it's going to be an issue.''

Unfortunately, LaCosta didn't come out of the team's ride on a sleeper bus there and back too good. It was his first time on a sleeper bus since the Elmira bus crash last season. Let's just say that snooze was the last thing that LaCosta could do.

"I was taking sleeping pills. I still couldn't sleep,'' he said. "Every time I would drift off, we would hit a bump, I'd wake up. It's just bad memories, I guess.''